Iowa special election on Tuesday could give Republicans supermajority
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Democrats’ last lever in the Iowa Senate is on the line Tuesday, with Republicans poised to capture a supermajority that would allow Republican Party leaders to govern with little resistance.
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The Iowa State Capitol building is seen October 9, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Democratic nominee Renee Hardman will face Republican Lucas Loftin in a race for Iowa Senate District 16 to fill the seat of the late Sen. Claire Celsi, who died of undisclosed medical complications in October.
Celsi, a Democrat, has held a seat in the Iowa Senate since 2019.
With two-thirds control of the chamber, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds could more easily push through her nominations to state agencies. Without that, she will need the help of at least one Democrat to confirm her nominations.
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Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds participates in a panel discussion at a Republican Governors Association conference November 15, 2022 in Orlando, Florida. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
This single vote gives Democrats a rare level of power in the Hawkeye State.
Democrats, who now risk losing their footing in the Senate, also find themselves eclipsed in the state House of Representatives, where Republicans hold 66 of the chamber’s 100 seats. The Democrats, meanwhile, only hold 33.
There is a vacancy in the House.
At the federal level, Republicans hold Iowa’s four districts in the House of Representatives and both seats in the U.S. Senate. Notably, Democrats will likely attempt to run a competitive Senate race to replace retiring Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, in 2026.
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Senator Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican, introduced the McSCUSE ME Act on November 20, 2025 to address SNAP benefits. (Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Democrats narrowly escaped a Republican supermajority in another special election in August. Tuesday will mark Iowa’s sixth special election of the year.
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Polling stations open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, December 30.
